KNOWLEDGE IS GOOD - SKILL IS BETTER - BOTH ARE BEST

          Knowledge and skill are the two best things to have. They may become the difference between living and dying; and, if you stay alive, they may be the difference between surviving and thriving. They weigh nothing, don’t take up any space, you won’t leave them behind if caught off guard, they can’t be stolen, and best of all you can share them without giving them up and barter them repeatedly without the supply ever running low.

          Knowledge and skill go hand in hand. You can read all the books you want; but, unless you have tried to apply that knowledge you will most likely have a very steep learning curve - so steep it may cost you or some else their life. Now is the time to practice.

If you can’t light a back yard BBQ grill without lighter fluid you better start practicing your fire building skills. Sure you can tie your own shoes in the dark; but, can you tie someone else’s with wet cold hands in the dark? Can you tie a bowline in the dark? Practice. Practice! PRACTICE!

Both knowledge and skills can be lost. Just as the old expression goes - use it or lose it. Yes, many things are like riding a bike - it may have been awhile, but it will come back; but, when the SHTF is really not the time to be hoping it comes back soon enough to save your life. Also, there is a reason for the expression “he’s losing it”, when a person becomes erratic or panicky. Stress can be a deadly enemy.

          Most folks don’t understand just how stress and discomfort affects them. That is why elite military units screen trainees by testing three primary areas:

1.   Use of knowledge in decision making under extreme stress - i.e. navigation, shoot/don’t shoot.  

2.   Use of fine and gross motor skills under extreme environmental conditions - i.e. assess, treat, and evacuate a wounded buddy

3.   Overall determination - the ability to keep doing what has to be done - no matter what.

All of this is tested when it’s below freezing, you’re soaking wet, weighed down by a ton of mud and gear, it is pitch black dark, you can’t remember the last time you ate or slept, you have no idea if it will ever end, etc.

     If you struggle to do it in the easy times under ideal conditions you will be up the creek without a paddle when the SHTF.

          Many have heard the expression “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. It can be if you don’t have common sense. Common sense cannot be taught very well; but, it is really just the ability to reason. I’ll give an example: Suppose I told you that paper burns at 451 degrees, that matches will ignite paper, and that skin blisters at less than 200 degrees. I have not told you that a match will burn you; but, many would say common sense tells you that. Common sense - reasoning - is the ability to create new knowledge from existing knowledge. Not everyone can do this; but, for those that can a little knowledge can go a long way. Still, the more knowledge you have, the better your odds of surthrival.

          Study and practice now so that later you won’t just survive - you will thrive.

 

PS - The only thing common sense and common courtesy have in common is that they are uncommon. Practice both - we’ll all be better for it.